Accepted Manuscript

A review of currently applied building information modeling tools of constructions in

China

Jingming Li, Nianping Li, Jinqing Peng, Haijiao Cui, Zhibin Wu

PII: S0959-6526(18)32370-9
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.037
Reference: JCLP 13821

To appear in: Journal of Cleaner Production

Received Date: 2 February 2018

Revised Date: 14 July 2018
Accepted Date: 4 August 2018

Please cite this article as: Li J, Li N, Peng J, Cui H, Wu Z, A review of currently applied building
information modeling tools of constructions in China, Journal of Cleaner Production (2018), doi: 10.1016/
j.jclepro.2018.08.037.

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1 A review of currently applied Building Information Modeling tools of Constructions in China

2 Jingming Li, Nianping Li∗, Jinqing Peng, Haijiao Cui, Zhibin Wu

3 College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410081, China

4 Corresponding author Tel./fax: +8673188822667. E-mail address: linianping@126.com.

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， Abstract
7 Building information modeling (BIM) is considered as a vital technology to achieve building
8 sustainability in China. Many local companies have developed BIM assisting tools to
9 accelerate the transformation of the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) industry.
10 The industry believed the use of BIM tools would increase the informatization. However, no

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11 investigations have been made to evaluate the status of the tools providing BIM service in
12 China. This study reviewed the typical features of BIM tools in China and illustrated the

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13 workflows of some representative tools. The common tools were counted. The different
14 building projects where the tools were used and common functions of these tools were

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15 summarized. An assessment of their performances based on eleven criteria was conducted
1， after the illustrations. The review of the tools finds that BIM software can be classified into

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17 three types, integrated platforms, instant service services, and supplementary works based on
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18 the workflow illustrations. The collaboration of these three types would contribute to cleaner
19 production. The assessment revealed that the aspects where these tools played a role in
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improving engineering efficiency and what areas were needed to be improved. Three
21 suggestions and three potential schemes of BIM tools in construction projects are discussed at
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22 the end. Developers need to further explore the cloud data usages, and thus, collaborations of
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different tools can be promoted.

24 Keywords: Building Information Modeling; BIM software; Building Lifecycle; Construction

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25 Effectiveness

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27 1. Introduction
28 BIM technology has already been known to the world. Since firstly created in 1974 (Eastman
29 et al., 1974), studies and investments towards BIM have been supporting relative areas.
30 Publications and journals have discussed BIM integrating other technologies for Architecture,
31 Engineering, Construction, Operation and Facility Management of building projects (Volk et

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32 al., 2014). Guidelines and standards were holistically reviewed about the adoptions of BIM
33 technology for sustainability (Chong et al., 2016). Since the adoption of BIM technology is

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34 realized through BIM tools, the tools are developed for assessing the performances of designs,
35 clash detection, schedule simulation, management and off-site fabrication, constructing

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3， management, facility management, and emergency response. In the meantime, BIM is also
37 used to enhance the visualization of models for many occasions, for instance, the visibility of

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38 the signage system (Motamedi et al., 2017).
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39 BIM software systems covering all phases of a building lifecycle have been listed and
40 reviewed in corresponding to their functions (Abanda et al., 2015). Scholars also validated
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41 the benefits of facility management by adopting BIM-GIS-FM systems (Kang and Hong,
42 2015). Given its ability to provide a better comfort design and a better collaborative
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43 workflow, the various BIM tools are expected to improve the sustainability of China’s AEC
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44 Industry socially, economically, and environmentally (He, 2012; He et al., 2011;

45 SmartMarket Research Report, 2015).
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4， Nowadays China’s AEC Industry keeps challenging the limits of complexity and difficulty of
47 projects (Ran, 2011). In 2016, the total value of the AECO Industry in China exceeds $ 285
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48 billion according to the Accumulative total construction output value (National Data, 2016).
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49 The 13th Five-Year Plan (The Fourth Session of 12th NPC, 2016) aims to reach an annual
50 increase of the total the Chinese AEC Industry’s output by 7%. This urges the traditional
51 AEC industry for a more effective, efficient and secure management system for the whole
52 industry. The government points out the foundation for achieving the development is the
53 informatization of AEC industry (MOHURD, 2016) with BIM mentioned by 28 times.

54 BIM is considered to be the auxiliary tool to help achieve the goal of engineering
55 construction (MOHURD, 2016, 2003; The Fourth Session of 12th NPC, 2016). More
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5， specifically, the value of BIM is achieved through the use of BIM hardware and software.
57 Many well-developed tools are offering BIM service, and the remaining work for local users
58 is to learn to use them (Sheng, 2016). Since the overseas tools were incompatible with the
59 current situations in China, experts are studying file transformation and data management
，0 based on IFC to develop Chinese BIM applications. Some of them help to prosper BIM

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，1 development and the AEC Industry in China. The top two among them, GLODON and
，2 Thsware reached an annual operating revenue of 2 billion and 86 million in 2016 separately

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，3 (Eastmoney, 2017; GLODON, 2016). Lubansoft has been installed on 1.5 million computers
，4 (Lubansoft, 2017). Other popular tools, such as Hongwa and Glsbim, are providing online

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，5 assistance on BIM implementation. On the other hand, some of them share similar functions
，， and only work under specific conditions (Zheng et al., 2015), which makes it difficult to

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，7 choose proper tools. The value of information interactions of the model and management
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，8 through the project timeline might be reduced because of choosing inappropriate tools. A
，9 large number of BIM tools and the lack of knowledge of BIM have caused barriers to the
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uptake of BIM (Abanda et al., 2015).

71 Although, studies have been made about the constructions using BIM. Cao et al. (2015)
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72 reviewed the BIM and its effectiveness in construction projects in China. No investigation
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73 has been made to evaluate the effects of the BIM tools in the projects. A vast amount of
74 software and the tools serving similar roles are accompanied by the absence of peer-reviewed
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75 literature on BIM tools in China’s AEC Industry. Therefore, there is a need to investigate and
7， provide a comprehensive study of the adopted BIM software systems in China’s AEC
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77 Industry.
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78 For the above reasons, although some Chinese companies have benefited a lot from their
79 tools, BIM development in China is still immature. The development of BIM tools is also
80 incomplete. This work aims to analyze the effects on construction projects of BIM tools
81 based on their techniques and their interoperability.

82 This paper conducted a mixed review of BIM tools in China in Section 3. The common tools
83 were counted. The different building projects and common functions of these tools are
84 summarized. Several promotions in constructions of these tools were listed. To understand
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85 the contributions and obstacles of the tools, workflow analysis based on representative BIM
8， tools and comparative studies from the view of functions in a project timeline in Section 4.
87 An assessment of maturity for the representative tools. Moreover, upon those, the features of
88 the developing trends are discussed in Section 5. Suggestions for BIM tools in the future are
89 proposed. The results of this study are useful for the BIM development in China.

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90 2. Research methodology
91 This paper used a systematic approach (Greenhalgh et al., 2005). The analysis approach for

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92 reviewing literature, reports, and papers has five steps. Fig. 1 shows the research structure
93 when reviewing.

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94 The first step was to gather information, including collection, filtration, and analyzation of
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the results. Baidu search engine and CNKI database, which were reliable data sources in
9， China, were used to collect the possible results. The keywords for searching the potential
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97 targets were “BIM tools” and “BIM software” in Chinese. The search engines were set to
98 search from 2015-2018. These settings ensured all relevant outcomes were grabbed,
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99 including literature, reports, journals, papers, and surveys. Filtration was then conducted
100
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manually to select qualified files for the review. If the documents discussed BIM tools in
101 projects or theories, they were selected. Fig. 2 showed the filtrated documents. A significant
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102 increase occurs in the year 2016 for BIM tools in construction projects and BIM tools
103 discussed in theories.
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105

10， Fig. 1. Research Framework

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107 The next step was to tabulate the selected documents for analysis and further analysis. The
108 adoptions of the documents were discussed within a project life cycle. BIM tools severe one
109 or more periods during the project life cycle. They are used to predict the feasibility of
110 primary plans in the phase of planning to determine the general concepts of a project life
111 cycle (Chen and Pan, 2015). Turning to the phase of design, which enriches the concepts and

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112 validates sustainability of the plans, use of products and materials, energy consumption
113 (Chong et al., 2016) and other performance simulations are included in this part. BIM tools

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114 are usually used in the stages of design and construction off-site fabrication, construction
115 management, schedule, and quantity take-off (Sigalov and König, 2016). During operation

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11， and maintenance, the tools are used to collect information and optimize operation. Amini et al.
117 used two-stage Mixed Integer Linear Programming to solve the residential energy scheduling

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118 optimization problem (2015). Also, the tools are applied for a refurbishment assessment or
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119 demolition schedules when the building life cycle comes to an end (Akinade et al., 2015).
120 Based on when the tools were applied, the documents were further recorded according to the
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121 construction project types and functions of the tools. The tools used in these projects to
122 realize these functions were recorded.
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124 Fig. 2. Selected Files distributed by year

125 After the tabulation, the data were evaluated. Based on the analysis results, benefits and
12， obstacles of BIM tools in construction projects were discussed. Then, the representative tools
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127 are selected for the analysis. The representative tools in this study are tools of Autodesk,
128 Glodon, Luban, and Hongwa. Their workflow and interoperability when serving a project
129 were further discussed. Moreover, then the types of the workflows are analyzed from a
130 joint-view of programming and designing.

131 The status and developing trends of BIM tools in China are discussed. Problems and

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132 advantages in the current situation of BIM tools are both considered. Thereafter, conclusions
133 are drawn from the analysis and recommendations are proposed for relative developers and

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134 researchers.

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135 3. Findings
13， Throughout the review of documents, one hundred and sixty-two (162) practices and one
137

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hundred and thirty-five (135) theoretical discussions were tabulated. The previous one
138 involved application areas of BIM tools and their contributions in constructions, while the
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139 later one identified obstacles in the tools.
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140 3.1. Functions and Application areas

141 The results of construction projects show that most of the BIM tools concentrated on
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142 planning, design, and construction. The tools are most frequently used in the design stage,
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143 among the projects used BIM tools for model design (25.9%) and model checking (24.8%)
144 respectively. These are followed by quantity take-off (16.3%), construction simulation
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(13.8%), construction management (7.6%), and visualization and roam (6.2%). Terrain (2.1%)
14， and prefabrication (2.3%) are less frequently used. Only a small minority of the projects used
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the tools for preservation (0.5%), operation and maintenance (0.5%), and refurbishment
148 (0.2%). Fig. 3 shows the functions of the BIM tools in construction projects.
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150 Fig. 3. Common functions of the BIM tools in construction projects

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151 From Fig. 3, the depth of BIM use in a project life cycle is relatively wide. The majority of
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the constructions have used BIM across several application areas, almost half of the projects
153 are using the tools for works on the model. Further examination of the results indicates that
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154 BIM tools in 78.3% of the projects are applied for at least two purposes. About 5% of the
155 projects are extending services to architecture protection, operation and maintenance, and
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15， refurbishment. The expanding adoptions of BIM tools mean the contributions have been
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valued and construction practices are exploiting their potentials. It is obvious that BIM tools
158 could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these development processes by reducing
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159 unnecessary waste from re-works and re-planning (Gibbs et al., 2015). BIM tools are used in
1，0 various construction. Fig. 4 showed the construction types. High-rise buildings used BIM
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1，1 tools most frequently. The type ‘others’ were some certain projects anonymously mentioned
1，2 in the reviewed documents. From Fig. 4, it is noticed that the tools have been applied to
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1，3 various types of construction.

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1，4

1，5 Fig. 4. Common functions of the BIM tools in construction projects

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1，7 3.2. Contributions and Obstacles
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1，8 The construction projects in the documents mentioned advancements after using the tools.
1，9 While theoretical discussions focused more about obstacles in them. Based on the reviewed
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170 documents, the contributions and obstacles are illustrated in Fig.5.

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171

172 Fig. 5. Contributions and obstacles of the BIM tools

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173 From Fig. 5, 32% of the projects suggested that the tools made fabrications and constructions
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174 more precious through model design and model checking. 17% of the constructions achieved
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a better construction schedule with the tools. The collaboration was improved among
17， different professionals in 29% projects. 22% of the projects concluded their efficiency had
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been improved. The precision improvements in models make fabrication and construction
178 process more accurate. Contractors, designers, users, and constructors can cooperate with
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each other above the open-access tools, which from proper schedules. These are contributing
180 to the project efficiency in all aspects. In the end, the BIM tools have made the constructions
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181 cleaner. For instance, the decoration project of Shenzhen Metro Line 9 reduced the
182 coordination time of professionals by 20%, reduced the sheet changes by 40%, shortened the
183 construction period by 10%, increased the precision of the factory components, reduced the
184 rework rate by 3%, and saved the construction investment about 2% by using BIM tools for
185 models and visualizations (Hancheng et al., 2017).

18， However, the tools cannot satisfy all the requirements. Four major obstacles to the tools were
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187 drawn from the reviewed documents. As shown in Fig. 5, the most frequently mentioned
188 problem was data exchange (32%), which was caused by the lack of interoperability among
189 different tools. A large number of BIM tools became the least problem. 11% of the
190 discussions believed choosing proper tools was difficult. The other two problems were
191 insufficient functions (29%) and inadequate localization (28%). The previous one was that

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192 the performance of BIM tools in certain areas failed to reach their expectations. While the
193 later one resulted from the insufficient support of local standards. These problems have

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194 internal connections. Insufficient functions and inadequate localization are connected and are
195 the cause of software incompatibility. These caused problems in data exchange, leaving many

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19， tools hard to choose. For instance, almost all railway designs mentioned that BIM tools
197 should enhance support for railways because there were few tools supporting regulations in

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198 this area and data missing during exchanges. To further analyze the effects and the tools, it is
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199 necessary to record the tools used in these projects.

200 3.3. Common BIM tools in China

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201 Based on the construction projects of the documents, the tools are tabulated as shown in Fig.
202 6. The most commonly used tools are Revit, Navisworks, Luban, and Tekal. Other tools
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203 including AECOsim Building Designer & ProjectWise, Archicad, Vectorworks, and
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204 SketchUp & Tekla are also known to industrial professionals (Sheng, 2016).
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205
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20， Fig. 6. Common BIM tools in China.

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207 Among them, the overseas tools are more specialized in planning and design. All the tools are
208 supportive of construction and energy consumption. The applications in operation and
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209 maintenance are available but immature. Although the functions in a life cycle are divided
210 into eight categories, they are actually integrated together. For instance, Revit and
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211 Navisworks have been mentioned one hundred and ten (110) times and seventy-six (76) times
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212 respectively. The other companies have similar combinations. Some local tools are sharing
213 similar strategies, as previously mentioned Thsware series, PKPM, Luban, and Glodon series.
214 The series includes at least three modeling tools for architecture, structure, and mechanics
215 separately. Most of them now have the abilities to analyze scheduling, however, authoring is
21， still based on Revit or AutoCAD. As for pre-design and feasibility, none of the locally
217 developed tools can finish this part. As for the tools mentioned only once, they were Forge,
218 PDSOFT, Coobase, Solid Edge, Power Civil, BridgeMaster, Pro Concrete, Power Civil,
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219 Unreal Engine, Sap2000, Civil Station Bridge, ABAQUS, Visual FL, 3DVIA, GOCAD,
220 Solidworks, Synchro, Sunflower 4D-BIM, PM, ENOVIA, Navigator, VISSIM, Archicad,
221 GeoStation, Design review, TJADBrIM, Autoplant, Recap, EXCEL, Allplan, Terra Explorer,
222 Corel Video Studio, Bqpoint estimator, Unity3D.

223 From Fig. 6, it is noticed that the amount of the locally developed BIM tools have increased

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224 and used more frequently compared with works before (He, 2012, 2011, 2010). Four major
225 platforms have appeared on the market. However, the Pre-design phase remains empty. The

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22， tools tend to rely more on quantity than quality. They are repeatedly developed for different
227 regions. For instance, Thsware Estimating has more than 30 versions for different provinces

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228 in China (Meihua et al., 2017).

229

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It is needed to notice that the contributions and obstacles of the tools are concluded from their
230 collaborations. Thus, the tools used in a project should be view as a collaborative system. The
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231 effects of systems are closely related to its workflow and interoperability.
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232 4. Workflows and interoperability assessment

233 The workflow can be classified into three categories, information models, information
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234 deliveries, and functions. Information models mean 3D building elements with spatial shape
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235 and other properties included, which is usually referring to IFC. Information deliveries here
23， only consider whether the information is processed by the local driver or uploaded to cloud
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driver. Functions here refers to the modifications, calculations, and analysis of models. The
238 functions are either integrated inside or connected externally. The information delivery
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among tools can only be reached through internal or external links. The internal links mean
240 the functions are inside the tool. The external links are file exportations or cloud uploads.
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241 Either way, the functions that they connect are the beyond primary tools.

242 By plotting the workflows of several representative tools, the compatibility of these tools is
243 visualized. The tools developed overseas have provided software development kit to fit local
244 situations. The local tools in China have formed three types, Integrated, Instant service, and
245 Supplementary.
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24， 4.1. Integrated platforms

247 A typical instance of an integrated platform is Revit, Navisworks and BIM 360 series
248 (Abanda et al., 2015). The workflow is shown in Figure 7. Revit is used to create 3D
249 information model based on IFC data format. Many kinds of functions are integrated within
250 Revit. When a user calls a function during the design phase, visualization rendering, for

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251 instance, the request will be delivered to the rendering module through certain IDMs. The
252 user may choose cloud rendering using cloud service while continuing local authoring. After

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253 running simulations and analysis, the complete model is transferred to Navisworks, where
254 project management, model checking, quantity take-off, and construction simulations are

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255 performed until the project is delivered to contractors and users. Along the timeline of the
25， project, BIM 360 provides various applications for owners, designers, contractors,

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257 constructors, and managers to collaborate on problems they encountered. AECOsim Building
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258 Designer and Archicad with other tools have similar workflows.

259 However, many functions developed overseas have problems fitting the situation in China.
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2，0 For instance, local element databases are absent in many oversea tools. The local support of
2，1 tools developed overseas still needs improvements.
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2，3 Fig. 7. The workflow of BIM tools in a construction project.

2，4 Similarly, Glodon is creating their BIM platform as shown in Fig. 8. The IFC models are
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2，5 drawn in Revit or AutoCAD with Glodon’s assisting tools (GLODON COMPANY
2，， LIMITED, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2017d). The workflow of Glodon series starts with the
2，7 transformation of separated architecture, MEP, and structure 2D drawings, which are then
2，8 integrated as a complete model. After rebuilding the model, Glodon BIM 5D and Glodon
2，9 Collaborative are serving the roles of Navisworks and BIM360. Other tools, such as TSZ,

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270 shared similar workflows in providing BIM services.

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272 Fig. 8. A typical workflow with local BIM tools.

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273 These tools are integrating functions. For instance, the modules of sun path and daylight
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274 analysis were separate tools before being integrated into Revit ( Roberts and Marsh, 2001).
275 The various adoptions mentioned earlier are connected and shown in one platform’s user
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interface. The good thing is that a considerable amount of time of exporting and importing
277 models has been saved (Eastman et al., 2008; Smith and Tardiff, 2009). However, the side
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effect is the users might be confused by too many options.

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279 4.2. Instant services

280 Some tools have chosen a different way to improve BIM service. Instead of integration,
281 Luban develops tools for the functions separately as shown in Fig. 9. Again, Luban has no
282 authoring tools. The IFC models in Luban series are either drawn in AutoCAD with its design
283 modules and then integrated to a complete 3D model or directly transformed from other 3D
284 models. Then the model is upgraded to its data center, where all end users can access their
285 needed information. To distinguish the end users, Luban launches applications for managers,
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28， contractors, designers and on-site workers separately. The functions it can provide in the
287 design phase are merely model checking and model integration, but the tools are capable of
288 collaboration and construction management as its flexible mobile BIM distribution. Such
289 applications have brought a more effective communication between employers and
290 employees, which results in a shorter schedule.

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293 Fig. 9. A typical workflow of instant services.

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294 4.3. Supplementary works

295 Some newly born BIM tools, such as Hongwa and Glsbim, have entirely given up developing
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29， its supporting cycle for a building lifecycle. They have focused their attention on assisting the
297 tools developed overseas, which refer to Revit under most circumstances. For instance, they
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298 provide local database and model transformers. The previous one compensates the
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299 incompatible problem of elements inside Revit with local situations. Moreover, the later one
300 transforms 2D drawings to 3D models. Model builders use Revit and plugins, such as
301 Hongwa Transformer (Hongwa, 2017) and RevitKM, to transform 2D models to 3D
302 information models separately. Because they are built within Revit, the models can be
303 directly integrated into one inside, which solves problems of compatibility. Green part in Fig.
304 6 illustrates their workflows.

305 Although modeling with supplementary tools has added extra work to modeling directly in
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30， Revit, it is still more efficient than the traditional method (Glsbim, 2017). These tools have
307 significantly decreased the requirements of 3D modeling and increased the popularity of BIM
308 by providing online support to beginners.

309 4.4. Interoperability assessment

310 The workflows are then assessed with their interoperability. The assessment is based on the

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311 capability maturity model (CMM), which is initially designed to measure the “maturity” of a
312 building information model and the processes used to create it (Xu and Liu, 2014the ). Since

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313 the BIM processes are through these tools, the CMM assessment for tools is the ideal
314 condition without human factors. With the comments from 110 documents using tools with

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315 Revit, a baseline assessment was built for Revit series. The other two were scored comparing
31， to Revit series. Fig. 10 showed the results.

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318 Fig. 10. Common BIM tools CMM assessment results.

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319 Although inadequate local support, Data Richness was eight because this part can be
320 perfected by supplementary tools. In the Life Cycle Views, BIM software was integrated into
321 each stage based on the project timeline, including planning, design, construction, and
322 operation. So it was also eight points. Roles or Disciplines was eight because the tools
323 supported all phases in a lifecycle. Change Management and Timeliness/Response were also
324 eight because, through 3D visualization and various end-use management, the phenomenon
325 of "error, collision, leakage and collision" during different phases were greatly reduced. In
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32， Delivery Method, information exchanges were carried out through the network in the whole
327 life cycle. The score was seven points. In Graphic Information, 3D and 4D modes of BIM
328 software were used to control the progress, quality, and safety of the whole process. The
329 score was ten points. In Space Capability, GIS remote sensing technology could be integrated
330 to collect the regional information. This item was ten. In Information Accuracy, the model

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331 can be precise to millimeter, which is accurate enough for building works. The score was
332 eight points. IFC Support was seven because the software supported IFC to a certain extent,

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333 and there was information loss in conversions. The two other series had the same scores in
334 IFC Support for the same reason, all other items were slightly lower than the Revit series due

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335 to technical defects.

33， Based on the three workflows above, the improvements of effectiveness from these tools are
337 as follows:
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338 Data Richness-This part determines the detail level of the models. In most cases, it is
339 supported by supplementary tools. According to the reviewed constructions, the major benefit
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340 of a BIM construction practice is the establishment of their model database, which could
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reduce the time for model construction and visualization during future projects.
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342 Life Cycle Views-The use of life cycle views is an essential assisting function according to
343 the documents. However, it is currently available during specific periods, for instance, the
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integrated platforms support visual work during design and construction simulations while
345 the Instant service services focus more on on-site construction management.
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34， Roles or Disciplines-This aspect needs the tools to be compatible with local standards or
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347 guidelines. Supplementary tools are firmly attached to this part. BIM standards in areas of
348 the railway system will contribute to the development of tools and through the tools
349 contribute to the construction process.

350 Business Process-This area concerns Timeliness and Change Management. This part works
351 on an integrated platform. By applying model checking, cloud service, and instant messaging,
352 the time needed for modifications of bids, contracts, and models is less than previous
353 constructions. From the constructions in the reviewed documents, project documentation and
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354 schedules are sufficiently improved.

355 Delivery Method-This element is a key for delivering models to designers, constructors, and
35， users. The constructions regraded open cloud centers as the currently acceptable method.
357 However, not many projects concluded benefiting from this part, indicating collaboration is
358 still inadequate among different participants. However, conclusions were suggesting it helped

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359 optimize delivery of construction materials.

3，0 Graphical Information-This part describes the information models more clearly. It provides

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3，1 the users an intuitionistic method to experience their room. Along with Spatial Capability and

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3，2 virtual reality, BIM tools can demonstrate construction processes and decoration effects,
3，3 although most projects are using the tools for the previous purpose.

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3，4 Information Accuracy-This stage is considered a significant contribution toward
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3，5 constructions. The accuracy improvements in models make off-site prefabrications more
3，， accurate, which helps save construction materials.
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3，7 IFC Support-IFC support is the foundation of BIM collaboration. Instant service services use
3，8 IFC support to conduct most works. Model checking, simulations, and many other functions
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3，9 all need to extract information from it. On the other side, it is also the cause of the most
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370 frequently mentioned problem of difficulty in data exchange. Although tools of three types
371 support IFC, there are still data missing among different tools.
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372 Given the assessments, tools of the three platforms have similar performances. Integrated
373 platforms have advantages in data richness and visualization. Also, platforms of Instant
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374 service services need to improve their performance in Interoperability. However, as shown
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375 earlier, the workflows of the two platforms indicate that model creations and modifications in
37， the design phase are both developed based on the integrated platform.

377 5. Discussions
378 The implementation processes of BIM of these tools are presented in the above illustrations.
379 Currently, the tools are mostly upgraded from primary programs or redeveloped in existing
380 platforms. Majority of them focus more on building design and construction management., an
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381 assessment of capability maturity is conducted to have a more direct understanding of the
382 collaboration of these tools.

383 5.1. Workflows of BIM tools and their contributions in cleaner construction
384 Given the figures of workflows, the BIM tools in China’s AEC industry have formed three
385 types, integration, decentralization, and supplement. The integrated platform provides a

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38， general format, which allows information to flow throughout the life cycle. It solves the
387 problem of the complex of a building project and the serviceability of each phase during the

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388 project, which reduces the difficulty of developing functions and managing information
389 within the cycle. Besides most recently developed applications for building model

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390 visualization (Kang and Hong, 2015), assessment, energy analysis, and safety make the
391 integration a leading trend. The decentralization is the instant service services, which are the
392
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result of portability and real-time communication during construction. These make the
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393 constructions accurate and efficient. The instant service services are enhancing on-site
394 management. A typical feature here is a large number of collaboration applications for end
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395 users, which allows constructors and designers to commutate and discuss on-site problems.
39， The supplement work compensates the local support of some overseas tools. So
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397 supplementary tools conduct supplement work by creating a local family database for
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398 components in Revit and improving the efficiency of model transformation. By assessing
399 their interoperability, the advancements in data richness, accuracy, and IFC support have
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400 significantly improved project effectiveness.

401 5.2. The causes of the obstacles in BIM tools

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402 Such three types represent two significant trends of adopting BIM tools in the construction
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403 projects, a complete integrated delivery process, and a transition process. The previous one
404 has complete BIM support from the beginning to the end, while the later one starts with a
405 traditional design using the three types of tools. The critical feature of a transition process is
40， the adoption of transforming model tools. When finishing a design, it will transform into 3D
407 models in BIM authoring tools with some supplement work on a model transformer. Then it
408 will be uploaded to a cloud data center, where managing, checking and viewing applications
409 will keep collecting and enrich the BIM model.
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410 The previous one is considered to ideal integrated project delivery. However, the later one is
411 commonly used in many projects currently (Glsbim, 2017; Hongwa, 2017). By transforming
412 models into 3D elements, the difficulty of creating information models has decreased, and the
413 efficiency of building models has increased. More and more people can join the discussion of
414 BIM learning, which has accelerated upgrading the industry to BIM generation.

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415 However, such a strategy also causes interoperability issues when using BIM tools. The first
41， problem is transformed models are merely 3D elements, the information of the elements

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417 remains unset. Besides, the adoption of transforming tools makes software developers believe
418 the urgent need of transforming tools. In the meantime, the vast amount of untrained BIM

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419 model constructors has caused the misunderstanding that BIM is model transforming, which
420 in return, exacerbates the situation. Consequently, the improvement of the industry is delayed.
421
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Some reviewed documents mentioned there was a gap between the available software and
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422 practical applications. The software provided by the supplier cannot meet the requirements of
423 professional use, and the builder redeveloped it when using it. This made the market software
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424 more difficult to choose.

425
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5.3. Suggestions and possible future schemes of BIM tools

42， Based on the current status and problems of the BIM tools, several aspects are proposed to
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427 enhance their effectiveness in construction projects. Firstly, the benefits and potentials of
428 BIM are needed to be further exploited. For instance, the potentials of cloud need to be
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429 further exploited, including cloud data transmitting, processing and visualizing. Secondly, the
430 localization of BIM tools needs to be further addressed, minimization and elimination of
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431 delay among corporation of local and oversea tools are virtual in efficiency improvements.
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432 There will be a delay in the corporations comparing the native applications. Thirdly, the
433 aspect of IFC support is critical to interoperability, upon which, the studies of data interaction
434 should be further examined. For instance,

435 Another aspect should be noticed that the tools should target their end users. Although BIM
43， tools in China have been providing applications for nearly all aspects of a building lifecycle
437 as computational assisting tools for professional designers, none of them has covered the
438 usage for users, who are the maximum stakeholder in the lifecycle. The current methods of
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439 caring the users’ needs are to visualize the completed models through Virtual Reality (Du et
440 al., 2018). The participation of users among the early stages in the life cycle is not enough.
441 With the aid of BIM platforms, increasing user involvement can be achieved.

442 The following schemes can be considered when using BIM tools in the future. First of all, the
443 design team should setup BIM-based visualization platforms and provide access to potential

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444 users in all stages of the implementation to make sure the process is visible to users and
445 designers, and establish an effective response mechanism to guarantee the needs of users are

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44， satisfied. The second scheme is to enrich the current BIM platforms by adding visual guiding
447 functions. Instructed by architectural design principles in the platforms, users can create their

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448 own design. Then, lifecycle assessments and optimization are presented. The third scheme is
449 to give all works to BIM platforms, which will finish designs independently according to the
450
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user's requirements and compare the advantages and disadvantages of its designs. The first
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451 scheme has been tested in North America. El-Diraby et al. (2017) used the BIM to design
452 with end users for corresponding optimizations, which is worthy of study in China. The
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453 second scheme requires the adaptation of big data to improve the design and analysis.
454 Relative studies are applied to BIM with big data, but majoring in data search and
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455 transmission (Gao et al., 2017). The third scheme involves the use of artificial intelligence
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45， (AI). Both two schemes also need to establish a collaboration team consists of users and
457 professional designers to select the final building design. So far, corresponding studies in
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458 BIM with AI is limited to particular areas. AI is used in modeling the pitting risk and
459 corrosion rate of steel (Chou et al., 2017).
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4，0 5.4. Limitations

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4，1 It should be noted that the interpretation of the findings in this study has several limitations.
4，2 Firstly, the tools selected for analyzing workflows are applied in the Design, Construction,
4，3 and Delivery phases. However, as BIM started being applied in Building Operation, the
4，4 analysis should be extended for tools in these stages. Secondly, workflow analysis focuses
4，5 more on the general program framework. The application of professional fields of BIM tools
4，， has not been compared with the professional software. For instance, the energy consumption
4，7 simulation of integrated platforms has not been compared with the results of professional
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4，8 energy consumption simulation software. This also involves the problem of software
4，9 collaboration. Thirdly, this study can only provide an epitome of the current applied BIM
470 tools in China while BIM technologies keep advancing around the world, it will be worthy to
471 further assess the performances of BIM tools in different regions. In addition, this paper
472 mainly considers the software used in the market. In the future, we should further study the

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473 supply-demand relationship between software suppliers and the market.

474

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475 6. Conclusions

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47， The study has reviewed commonly used BIM tools in constructions and in theoretical studies
477 in China. This paper has the following contributions:

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478 1. This paper reviewed articles discussing BIM tools and engineering applications of BIM
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479 tools over the past seven years. The application fields and main uses of BIM software in
480 China are summarized from the documents. From the results of the review, the effects of
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481 BIM tools on the cleaner production of constructions are mainly from the reduction material
482 waste and the reduction of construction time.
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483 2. The commonly used BIM tools were counted from the results. By analyzing workflows of
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484 four typical tools, the project effectiveness from the tools was revealed. The results showed
485 that the local tools in China have now formed three types, Integrated platforms, Instant
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48， service, and Supplementary databases. The workflows of the three types plotted based on
487 representative BIM tools showed the tools have started data transformation for the project life
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488 cycle based on IFC.

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489 3. The assessment of capability maturity conducted on three platforms showed that the tools
490 have the ability for data collaboration. The tools developed overseas and locally need to
491 improve support for different regions and spatial data processing separately.

492 4. The discussion of three types indicates the massive AEC Industry in China is in the
493 transition period of adopting BIM. However, the untrained adoptions of model transforming
494 lead to the misunderstanding of BIM, which in return extended the transition period.
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495 5. It is suggested that software should target the end users of the building. The feelings of end
49， users should be added to the early design stage. Three future schemes were presented and
497 discussed at the end. BIM-based visualization platforms in the first scheme were easier to
498 implement because of existing technical conditions. The other two needs more research.

499 Future BIM tools need to deal with interoperability issues in the future to improve their

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500 contributions to construction projects. Support and information interaction in BIM should be
501 further developed. This work has several limitations as discussed in Section 5.4. The supply

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502 and demand relationship between software providers and industry had not been thoroughly
503 studied. The relationship between the two needs to be studied in depth.

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504 Acknowledgments
505

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This paper is supported by the China National Key R&D Program ‘Solutions to heating and
50， cooling of buildings in the Yangtze river region’ (Grant No. 2016YFC0700305) and the
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507 Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51578220). The authors are very grateful to the
508 Natural Science Foundation of China and Hunan University Research Foundation for their
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509 support.
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1. The BIM tools have made constructions cleaner because of collaborations of
professionals and precisions in fabrication.
2. The tools are classified into three types, integrated platforms, decentralized
services, and supplementary works to further study the obstacles.
3. Developers need to further explore cloud data usages and promote interoperability
of different tools based on the interoperability assessment.

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